An increasing number and variety of mobile solutions have become available to meet the needs of users in our fast-paced and mobile society. Mobile devices, such as cell phones and personal data assistants (PDAs), which may be generally considered as portable computing devices, have become increasingly popular and valuable to users. One location in which users often wish to access these mobile solutions is within their automobiles while they are driving. However, none of these devices have reached a level of integration with automobiles to provide users with a safe, yet productive driving experience. This is becoming more evident, for example, as states are choosing to ban the use of cell phones while driving.
Another safety issue associated with automobiles is the time and attention required for drivers to interact with interfaces provided within automobiles. Automobiles are typically equipped with a number of interfaces, such as instrument panels (e.g., providing car status information such as speed, fuel level, etc.), stereo systems, climate control systems, and global positional system (GPS) navigation systems. Tasks, such as reading information from an instrument panel or navigating controls on a stereo system, require drivers to take their eyes off the road and refocus their eyes on the interface at a short distance from them. Then, after the task is complete, drivers must refocus their vision back to the road to deal with the change in their driving state since they looked away.
Currently, a number of automobile manufacturers provide heads-up displays (HUDs), which generally consist of projecting information on the windshield of an automobile, allowing a driver to view the projected information without having to look down at an instrument panel. However, such HUDs only provide limited automobile-associated information, such as current speed and navigation information. Additionally, such information is presented on the HUD in a static state, in which a driver may not interact with the information. As indicated previously, the vast array of mobile solutions and associated information have not been adequately integrated with automobiles. Moreover, if more extensive information were provided via HUDs within automobiles, the additional information poses a possible problem of obscuring the driver's view, potentially offsetting any safety and other benefits.